Brown's Home Run Lifts Carolina, 2-1

Minor-league report

Mike Brown Hit His Fourth Home Run With Two Outs In The Ninth Inning To Beat The Orlando Cubs.

April 30, 1995|By Ric Russo of The Sentinel Staff

Mike Brown hit his third home run in three games with two outs in the ninth inning to propel Carolina past Orlando, 2-1, Saturday night before a season-high crowd of 3,972 in Southern League play at Tinker Field.

Brown lined a 3-2 pitch from relief pitcher Luis DeLeon just inside the foul pole in right field. It was his fourth home run of the season.

''I like playing here, it's a nice ballpark to hit in,'' Brown said following the Mudcats' fourth consecutive victory over the Cubs. ''I'm just one of those guys who loves to play the game.''

Brown, a member of the Pirates' 40-man roster, fouled off six pitches from DeLeon before hitting the game-winner. Right-hander Marc Pisciotta picked up the victory, his third.

''With the right-hander (Jon Farrell) on deck, I didn't want to give him anything to hit, but he hung in there and hit a good pitch,'' DeLeon said.

It was the first run DeLeon (0-1) has allowed in two appearances covering six innings. The veteran right-hander, who has been pitching professionally since 1978, was signed by the Cubs in the spring as a replacement player.

He joined Orlando on Monday.

For the first eight, the Mudcats (18-6) led, 1-0. The only run came on George Canale's Southern League-leading seventh homer in the first.

Orlando starter Matt Petersen kept the Cubs in the game by holding Carolina to three hits after the homer. The game stayed that way until the home half of the eighth when Robin Jennings singled home Chris Petersen to tie the score.

''We lost four games to these guys, but we should have won two of them but that's the way it goes sometime,'' Orlando manager Bruce Kimm said. ''But I'm real proud of our guys, we were in every game and we never quit.''

Paul Torres went hitless in four at-bats, ending his 17-game hitting streak. Pedro Valdes also failed to get a hit for the first time in nine games.

Following the game, the Cubs left for a 12-day, 13-game road trip. On the second leg of the trip, Orlando will get four more cracks at the Eastern Division-leading Mudcats.